Edging and butting machine



' EDGING AND BUTTING MACHINE Filed NOV. 23, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR.

1 ATTORNEY4.

.Feb. 17, 1942. v c. J. MELBY EDGING AND BUTTING M-ACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Nov. 23, 1937 INVENTOR. fiai/ei Patented Feb. 7, 1942 3 UNITEDSTAT s. PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to mill machinery andparticularly to apparatus for edging and butting shingles, shakes,box-boards and the like demanding straight-sided production. The majorobjects of my invention are to provide means in mechanism of thischaracter for obtaining an automatic trimming of variable-width stock toa parallel-sided contour and, in association therewith, means forobtaining an automatic trimming of the butt and the tip at right anglesto the parallel sides of the work.

These foregoing objects with further and more particular ends andadvantages will appear in the course of the following detaileddescription and claims, the invention consisting in the novelconstruction, adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the drawings wherein I exemplify an illustrative embodiment of myinvention believed to best portray a simplified assembly of partsaccording to the present improvements:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the machine with the power devices fordriving the feed and cutter mechanism deleted.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section there of taken to an enlargedscale on the line 2-2 of Fig.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section taken on the line3-3 of Fig. 1 and operating principally as an illustration, inelevation,

of the swinging beam by which one of two complementary cutter heads isadjustably positioned. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal verticalsection on line 4-4 of Fig. l, the scale being appreciably enlarged; and

Fig. 5' is a. fragmentary transverse vertical section on the line 5-5 ofFig. 4. l

I prefer for simplicity in illustration and ease of description toindicate and to refer to the work handled by the machine as a shingle, aterm which it will be understood should be interpreted as including anyform or material of stock capable of use with the machine. The machinein general comprises a table over which synchronized feed structureoperates first to convey the shingle through edge trimmers and thenthrough butt-and-tip trimmers and the frame therefor is represented inthe drawings by the numeral 1, a frame which is formed from suitablestructural members to a substantially L-shaped plan configuration with atable member Ill carried by one and a table member ll carried by theother extension of said L.

The former of these tables extends along one side only of the frame on asupporting shelf I2 and projecting upwardly from this shelf above thework-supporting surface of the table are guide ribs l3 and I3 disposedin jogged relation and spaced longitudinally at the point of the arborI5 in the space between said ribs with its knives being conventionallyadjustable to maintain the circumferential cutting perimeter inalignment with the plane-of the inner of the two guide ribs whichextends longitudinally over the discharge end of the table from the headI 4. I6 represents a belt drive for the cutter head.

Recessed in said table is a channel and operating in this channel is anendless conveyor chain l'l passing about sprocket wheels mounted onhorizontal shafts l8 and IQ of which the former, an idling shaft,-isadjustable for taking up chain slack and the latter, the drive shaft,driven by a chain 20 from power means, such as an electric motor (notshown). At spaced intervals of the chain length are lugs l l' whichextend above the table surface to engage the rear edge of the shinglesfor feeding the same longitudinally of the machine through the cutterhead It and a complementary cutter 'head 24. During such longitudinaltravel, pressure is applied to the shingles by leaf-type'spring members2| governed as to tension by the act of turning supporting rods whichare fixed by set screws 23 in relation to bearings 22.

It is to provide means for transversely adjusting said complementarycutter head, whose oflice is to trim the outer edge of the shingle inparallelism to the inner edge trimmed by the head 14, that I employ aswinging bracket as a mounting for the same and I desirably form thisbracket from a pair of parallel beam-arms 25, 25', pivoting the sameindependently by gudgeons .26, 26' and connecting their free ends bycross-linking 21, the cutter head being revolubly carried by an arbor 28finding a bearing in the cross-linking intermediate the free-end pivots29, 29'. Mounted on this arbor is a pulley 30 driven by belt 3| from anintermediate pulley 32 having a fixed axis between the gudgeons anddriven from a power belt 33. The swinging bracket lies below the tableand the supported cutter head in the path of the shingle travel and, forlocating the latter in spaced relation to rib l3 according to the widthof the shingle being trimmed, the invention provides a gauge arm 34having one end journaled on gudgeon 26' and the other end adjustablycoupled to beam-arm 25 by means such as a rod 35, an adjustment whichserves to position a terminal toe element 34' of the arm in I4 denotes acutter head mounted on an a longitudinal plane determined by the cuttingperimeter of the cutter head. The gauging toe 34 which, from contact bythe moving shingle, positions the cutter head is comprised of arelatively weak leaf spring for a purpose which will appear in thecourse of the following.

To describe in more particularity the manner by which arm 34 positionsthe cutter head, it will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 1 that thefree end of the swinging support for said head finds pivotal engagementat 29 with a locking bar 31, such locking bar extending laterally andhaving its outer end slidably received through an aperture formed in ablock 40. The block is mounted for vertical movement in a bearing 38 insuch a manner that the locking bar is caused to ride on the upper edgeof the bearing, the latter in consequence acting as a stirrup-piece forthe bar. The arrangement of bar, block and bearing is such that theblock and hearing are caused by depression movement of the former toexert a pincers action upon the bar to clamp the latter against slidingmovement. As a means for exerting depression influence on the block foreifecting such clamping function I couple the block to a rod 4| andintroduce over the latter, into bearing engagement with a face plate 44,a spring 42 which is loaded by a collar 43. Serving the ofiice ofintermittently elevating the rod 4! to relieve the bar 31 of theclamping force of the block is a cam 45 driven by a shaft 48 which is inturn driven by a chain 49 from the shaft i9, the timing of this chain 49being such in relation to the chain i! which is likewise driven fromsaid shaft I9 as to effect a release of the bar 31 from the pincersaction of the block 40 simultaneously with the travel of the successivelugs H to a point whereat the following edge of a conveyed shingle hascleared the head 24. Upon such release of the bar the head 24 is causedto return to the innermost limit of its swinging travel by the action ofsuitable means such as the indicated weight-loaded cable 46 which findsconnection with the free end of the swinging bracket. As bestrepresented in Fig. 4, the cam action is transmitted to rod 4| andthereby to the block 40 through an intervening lever 41 with the actionbeing such as to obtain a substantially instantaneous clamping of thebar 31 momentarily in advance of the shingles progress into the sphereofthe cutter head 24,

such clamping function being maintained throughout a period ofapproximately 300 in the following revolution of the cam, this periodbeing in correspondence with the time interval necessary to carry theshingle completely past the cutter head 24.

Reverting to the leaf spring 34" which locates the bracket as theleading tip of the shingle traverses the diagonal walk of the arm 34, itwill now be readily seen that shingles having an outer edge divergingrearwardly would necessarily be crushed by the gauge toe were thissurface to be secured in fixed relation to the machine frame, theutilization of the spring with its yielding characteristic permittingthe gauge surface to give.

Considering now the table II which lies flush with but in right angularrelation to the table I 0, I provide therein recessed parallel channelsfor the reception of twin endless conveyor chains 50 passing aboutsprocket wheels suitably driven by bevel gears 51 and 52 in timedrelation to the chain I'I. Conveyor lugs 50' on these chains 50 engagethe rear edge of the shingles as the conveyor lugs ll of the chain l Ideliver the same to table II, feeding the work forwardly on this tableunder pressure-applying leaf members 54 similar in nature to the members2| to bring the leading edge into engagement with a gaugingdiagonally-disposed shear plate 55 which locates the work relative to arotary butt-trimming saw 56. Associated with this saw is a tip-trimmingsaw 51 which, while indicated as revoluble in a fixed plane, ispreferably adjustable axially on its arbor to permit the machine to beset for various lengths of work. 58 represents a power belt for drivingthe saws 56 and 51.

It will be noted that a cut-away portion of the table in provides arecession l0 by which the cutter head 24 moves into relative adjacencyto the cutting plane of the head [4, this recession obviously acting toreduce the bearing surface for-the conveyed shingle. It is toaccommodate this reduction in bearing surface that the gauge arm 34, inactual application, is of channel construction with its lower webhorizontally aligned with the table, the outer tip of the work enteringthe channel groove and being supported therein as the work is fed intocutting relation to the head 24. This arrangement should be clearwithout detailed illustration of the same, the drawings showing aplane-faced strip for maximum clarity in the representation of thediagonal shingle-tracking surface and the spring toe 34'.

A rsum of the operation is believed unnecessary as the machine and thesteps performed should be clear from the foregoing. Numerousmodifications might well be resorted to as, for example, the evident useif desired of swinging heads or their equivalent in other trimmingdevices at each side of the work. It is my intention that the heretoannexed claims be given a breadth in their interpretation commensuratewith the state of the advance in the art.

What I claim; is:

1. In a trimming machine, in combination, a fixedly-located trimmingdevice, an associated trimming device movable laterally toward and fromthe same, means for feeding the work into edge-trimming relation to saidassociated trimming devices, means operating automatically in responseto the travel of the work into trimming relation to said trimmingdevices for positioning the movable trimming device relative to thefixedly located trimming device according to the width of the work beingtrimmed, and cam devices operating in timed relation to the workfeedingmeans for locking the movable trimmer at predetermined fixed intervalsduring the travel of the conveyor in the positions to which the same ismoved by the work.

2. In a trimming machine, in combination with work-feeding mechanism, atrimmer positioned in the path of travel of the work with the feedmechanism, automatically-operated trimmer-governing means controlled bythe width of the work being fed for shifting the trimming de-'- vicetransversely of the longitudinal plane of the work feed to accommodatethe trimmer to various widths of work, and means timed by the travel ofthe conveyor to operate at fixed intervals for locking the trimmer inthe positions to which the same is shifted by the work being fed.

3. In a trimming machine, in combination with a work-trimming cutterhead, a supporting bracket therefor mounted for swinging movement abouta fixed axis, a conveyor for feeding the work through a path traversedtransversely from its edge-trimming position in advance of theinitiation of the trimming action and fol.- lowing the completion of thetrimming action, respectively.

v4. In a trimming machine, in combination with a work-trimming cutterhead, a bracket supporting said head for swinging movement, a conveyoroperating to feed the work through a path traversed transversely by thecutter head in the swinging movement of the head, means engaged by theleading tip of the work in the conveyor-fed travel thereof for swingingthe bracket into a position whereat the cutter head lies in trimmingrelation to a side of the work, yieldable means resisting saidhead-positioning swinging movement of the bracket and operating tonormally locate the latter at the innermost extreme of its swingingmovement, and means entirely independent of the work being fed operatingto successively lock and release the cutter head in and from itspositioned work-trimming location at fixed intervals during the travelof the work longitudinally of the machine.

5. Structure as defined in claim 4 wherein the last-named means includesa cam synchronized with the conveyor.

6. In a trimming machine, in combination, a work-feeding conveyor, awork-trimming cutter head supported for transverse movement into andfrom the path of travel of the work, a pivotally mounted regulating armby which said cutter head is operated into trimming relation to a sideedge of the conveyed work disposed to normally extend diagonally fromits pivot across the path of travel of the work into a position whereatthe leading point of the side edge to be trimmed engages the same, meansfor locking said arm in its work-positioned head-regulating locationprior to the initiation'of the edge-trimming operation, and means forreleasing said arm upon completion of the edge-trimming operation.

7. The structure defined in claim 6, said regulating arm being movablerearwardly about its pivotal, axis as the leading point of the advancingwork progresses over the interrupting diagonal surface of the arm andwherein the free terminus of the arm is yieldable to allow the same togive following the operation of locking the same.

8. In a trimming machine, a trimming device, a conveyor for feeding thework into trimming engagement with the trimming device, a regulating armdisposed to occupy a position diagonal to the path of the work travel,having functional connection with the trimming device, and engaged bythe leading tip of the work for obtaining relative adjustment as betweenthe trimming device and the work, and locking means for securing saidarm against movement and thereby maintaining said. relative adjustmentas between the trimming device and the work during the trimmingoperation, said regulating arm having, as the part thereof which isengaged by the work, a relatively weak'leaf 'springthe function of whichis to accommodate the passage of j work which increases in width towardthe rear thereof. Y

9. In a side-edge trimming machine: a trimming device; a conveyor forfeedingthe work into trimming engagement with the trimming device; aregulating arm having functional connection with the trimming device,and supported for movement into and from engagement with the side edgeof the conveyed work which isto be trimmed and in such relation to thelatter and to the trimming device as to effect said engagement inadvance of the initiation of the trimming operation, said engagementacting to obtain relative adjustment as between the trimming device andthe work; and locking means for securing said arm against movement andthereby maintaining said relative adjustment as between the trimmingdevice and the work during the edge-trimming operation, said regulatingarm having, as the part thereof which is engaged by the work, arelatively weak leaf s ring the function of which is to accommodate thpassage of work which increases in width toward the rear thereof.

10. In a side-edge trimming machine: a trimming device; a conveyor forfeeding the work into trimming engagement with the trimming device; aregulating arm having functional connection with the trimming device,and supported for movement into and from engagement with the side edgeofthe conveyed work whichis to be trimmed and in such relation to thelatter and to the trimming device as to effect said engagement inadvance of the initiation of the trimming operation, said engagementacting to 0btain'relative adjustment as between the trimming device andthe work; and locking means .forsecuring said arm against movement andthereby maintaining said relative adjustment as between the trimmingdevice and the work during the edge-trimming operation, said regulatingarm having, as the part thereof which is engaged by the work, a memberyieldingly influenced into said engagement with the work andcharatcerized in that itsyielding movement is accomplished withoutdisturbing the adjustment of the trimming device, the function of saidyieldingly influenced member being to permit the same to give inaccommodating the passage of work which increases in width toward therear there- CHARLES J. MELBY.

